Indonesian court clears Newmont in pollution suit

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JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian court has cleared the local unit of Newmont Mining Corp. over pollution allegations filed in a civil case by an environmental group, the chief judge said on Tuesday.
Indonesian environmental group, Walhi, had accused Newmont in a suit filed at the South Jakarta court in March of carelessly disposing of mining tailings causing environmental problems and endangering the health of the community around the firm's now defunct gold mine in North Sulawesi province.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian court has cleared the
local unit of Newmont Mining Corp. over pollution allegations
filed in a civil case by an environmental group, the chief
judge said on Tuesday.

Indonesian environmental group, Walhi, had accused Newmont
in a suit filed at the South Jakarta court in March of
carelessly disposing of mining tailings causing environmental
problems and endangering the health of the community around the
firm's now defunct gold mine in North Sulawesi province.

But the South Jakarta court said Walhi, which in the suit
had called for Newmont to repair any damage to the environment
and apologize in national media, could not prove that PT
Newmont Minahasa Raya had polluted a bay near the mine.

"The plaintiff (Walhi) could not prove that Newmont
polluted the environment, sickening fish and damaging coral
reefs," presiding judge I Ketut Manika said.

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This was the Newmont's second win in an Indonesian court
over the pollution allegations. In April, a court cleared PT
Newmont Minahasa Raya and its president Richard Ness over
criminal charges related to the alleged dumping of toxic waste
into Buyat bay in a 20-month trial.

The prosecution filed an appeal in late May to the Supreme
Court in a bid to overturn the ruling. Newmont's Indonesian
unit and Ness have asked the Supreme Court to reject that
appeal.

The pollution cases have received widespread attention as a
key test of attitudes towards foreign firms and environmental
protection in the world's fourth most populous nation.

Indonesia's Environment Ministry said in 2004 that arsenic
and mercury content in waste dumped by Newmont had contaminated
sediment and entered the food chain.

But other tests failed to find abnormal pollution levels.

Newmont and Ness have denied the charges, pointing to the
studies that have found no evidence of pollution.

Last year Denver-based Newmont settled a civil case without
admitting wrongdoing and agreed to pay $30 million to an
environmental foundation in North Sulawesi.